North Korea Urged to Free American

WASHINGTON—The Obama administration lashed out at North Korea and called for the immediate release of an American citizen sentenced by Pyongyang this week to 15 years of hard labor for allegedly committing "hostile acts" against the isolated communist country.

The fate of Kenneth Bae, a 44-year-old Korean-American tour operator from Washington state, emerged as the latest test for the U.S. in its efforts to deal with Pyongyang and its young leader, Kim Jong Eun. North Korea has begun a string of provocative acts against the U.S. and its allies in recent months, including nuclear-weapons and long-range missile tests.

U.S. and Asian officials believe the North's sentencing of Mr. Bae is its latest effort to draw Washington into direct talks aimed at extracting economic and diplomatic concessions, something President Barack Obama has so far been unwilling to do.

U.S. officials said they were working through the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang—which represents U.S. diplomatic interests there—to gain information on Mr. Bae and seek his release. Administration officials don't rule out sending a special envoy to Pyongyang to try to win Mr. Bae's release.

A U.S. citizen has been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for unspecified "hostile acts" against North Korea. The WSJ's Alistair Gale tells us what this may mean for already-strained relations between Washington and Pyongyang. (Photo: AP)

"We're urging the [North Korean] authorities…to grant him amnesty and to allow for his immediate release, full stop," State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said.

White House press secretary Jay Carney, asked about Mr. Baeduring a trip with Mr. Obama to Mexico City, said little about the arrest, turning quickly to criticism of North Korea's nuclear-weapons program and calling on Mr. Kim to comply with its international commitments.

"Thus far, as you know, they have flouted their obligations, engaged in provocative actions and rhetoric that brings them no closer to a situation where they can improve the lot of the North Korean people or re-enter the community of nations," he said.

North Korea's state news agency said Mr. Bae was tried and sentenced Tuesday by the country's highest court. "The Supreme Court sentenced him to 15 years of compulsory labor for this crime," KCNA said.

North Korea has provided no details of Mr. Bae's alleged crime, but activists in Seoul said he was interested in bringing attention to humanitarian issues and may have been detained for possessing images of vagrant North Korean children. Groups of orphans, known as "kotjebi," or wandering swallows, are found throughout North Korea.Last week, North Korea said Mr. Bae had "aimed to topple" the government, a charge that could have brought the death penalty

The sentence for Mr. Bae complicates efforts by the U.S. and South Korea to lower tensions on the Korean peninsula as Pyongyang is thought to be preparing for a possible missile test from its east coast and has shut down a joint industrial zone with the South.

Since mid-February the North has threatened both countries with attack as it railed against annual military drills in the South and sanctions imposed in response to its nuclear-weapons program. Pyongyang has rejected offers for dialogue from both Seoul and Washington.

Mr. Bae entered Rason, a North Korean special economic zone bordering China and Russia, with a tour group in November and was detained soon afterward, according to North Korean state media. Mr. Bae, who was born in South Korea and is based in China, is a regular visitor to North Korea.

"Mr. Bae has been supporting an orphanage and running a bakery with the North Korean authorities' agreement," said Do Hee-yoon, a member of Seoul-based activist group Citizen's Coalition for the Human Rights of North Korean Refugees. "But he is being detained for taking pictures of North Korean homeless children."

In recent years, former U.S. presidents have traveled to North Korea to secure the release of detained American citizens. South Korean media reported Thursday that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter was seeking a visit to North Korea that may be part of a move to bring Mr. Bae back.

Mr. Carter secured the release of Aijalon Mahli Gomes in 2010, after the U.S. citizen was found guilty of similar alleged crimes. Mr. Carter's office wasn't available for comment on the media reports.

In 2009, Mr. Clinton returned from Pyongyang with two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who the North said had entered the country illegally and had committed unspecified "hostile acts."

Some analysts see North Korea's detention of U.S. citizens as a bargaining chip in its efforts to initiate dialogue aimed at winning security and aid concessions from the U.S. Visits by former U.S. statesmen to retrieve hostages also serve as a domestic propaganda tool showing the ability of the regime to win acknowledgment from the U.S.

Mr. Bae was born in South Korea and is a naturalized U.S. citizen, according to an account on the University of Oregon's Daily Emerald website. He was a student at the university from 1988 to 1990, but didn't graduate, the Daily Emerald reported.

A spokesman for Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden's spokesman Tom Caiazza said: "Senator Wyden condemns North Korea's attempt to use a United States citizen in what appears to be yet another attempt to get the international community's attention. He agreed with the State Department that Mr. Bae should be released immediately on humanitarian grounds.

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